As Angel Ferreras from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, taught Lindsay Sterling in Freeport, Maine.
Note: Along with meat and fried green plantains, these rice and beans make up the classic Dominican lunch called La bandera (the flag). It's named after the flag, Angel explained, because the meal is as Dominican as the flag and it's served everywhere in the country. These rice and beans are so easy to make and delicious, my family has this dish probably every other week.
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients
For the beans:
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 tsp Adobo seasoning (main ingredients: salt, turmeric, garlic powder)
- 1/4 green pepper, cut into 1/2" chunks
- 1/8 red onion, sliced into small segments
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 can Roman beans, drained and rinsed (pinto, kidney, red, or black would work as well)
- 4 oz. tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
For the rice:
- 2 cups white rice (Goya Canilla brand long grain enriched white rice recommended)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cups water
Instructions
1. Put all the ingredients for the beans in a medium sauce pot. Bring up to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil with 2 Tbsp vegetable oil and 2 tsp salt in a large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid.
3. Add rice to the boiling water, stirring with a wooden spoon. After five minutes or so, when spoon stays standing up in the cooking rice, or no water is standing above the rice, turn heat to low, and cover the pot with a lid.
4. After ten minutes, turn the rice so that the rice that was on top is on the bottom. Recover. Cook another ten minutes. When rice is cooked, increase the heat to medium-high for two minutes so that the rice on the bottom fries and gets crunchy/toasted but doesn't burn.
5. Spoon the fluffy rice into one serving bowl and the concon - the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot - onto a separate serving plate. (If you run cold water on the bottom of the rice pot, it makes the rice release much more easily. Also, you can slice through the concon in the pot to make chunks that are easier to pry/lift out of the pan with a spatula.
6. Serve beans, rice, and concon in separate bowls family style on the table. Serve with Dominican tostones and meat for the popular lunch: la bandera.